Yoshio Ikezaki is the master at interpreting and expressing concepts of Japanese aesthetics in a contemporary context. He has developed handmade washi paper and sumi ink to explore the profound power and vulnerability of nature in its relationship to humanity, creating layered paper sculptures that reflect environmental conditions and events.

The resulting artworks are a synthesis of his relationship to his materials, his immersion in his process, and the elemental nature of his subject matter—Fire/Earth (Hi/Taichi), Water/Air (Mizu/Kuki), Mind Essence/Beingness (Ki), Matter/Energy/Impermanence (Ku)—the four essential elements in nature and their evolving states of mind and matter.